Elastosis in ERα-positive male breast cancer

In female breast cancer (BC), elastosis is strongly related to estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) expression. Male breast cancers almost invariably express ERα; so, the aim of this study was to investigate elastosis frequency in invasive male BC as well as clinicopathological correlations, in comparison with females. A total of 177 male BC cases and 135 female BC cases were included, all ERα-positive and invasive carcinoma of no special type. Elastosis on H&E-stained slides was scored in a four-tiered system as elastosis grade (EG) 0 (no elastosis) to EG3 (high amount of elastosis). EG scores in male BC were correlated to histopathological characteristics and overall surviva and compared with female BC EG scores. Male BC showed some degree of elastosis in 26/117 cases (22.2%) with none showing EG3, while female BC cases showed elastosis in 89/135 cases (65.9%) with 21.5% showing EG3 (p < 0.001). This difference retained its significance in multivariate logistic regression. In male BC cases, no significant correlations were found between the amount of elastosis and age, grade, mitotic activity index, and PgR. In addition, no significant prognostic value of elastosis was seen. In conclusion, despite high ERα expression, male BC showed significantly less elastosis than female BC. Elastosis did not show clinicopathological correlations or prognostic value. Therefore, elastosis seems to be a less useful ERα tissue biomarker with less clinical significance in male BC compared with females, pointing towards important BC sex differences.

Maresin 1, a Proresolving Lipid Mediator, Ameliorates Liver Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury and Stimulates Hepatocyte Proliferation in Sprague-Dawley Rats

Maresin-1 (MaR1) is a specialized pro-resolving mediator, derived from omega-3 fatty acids, whose functions are to decrease the pro-inflammatory and oxidative mediators, and also to stimulate cell division. We investigated the hepatoprotective actions of MaR1 in a rat model of liver ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury. MaR1 (4 ng/gr body weight) was administered prior to ischemia (1 h) and reperfusion (3 h), and controls received isovolumetric vehicle solution. To analyze liver function, transaminases levels and tissue architecture were assayed, and serum cytokines TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10, mitotic activity index, and differential levels of NF-κB and Nrf-2 transcription factors, were analyzed. Transaminase, TNF-α levels, and cytoarchitecture were normalized with the administration of MaR1 and associated with changes in NF-κB. IL-6, mitotic activity index, and nuclear translocation of Nrf-2 increased in the MaR1-IR group, which would be associated with hepatoprotection and cell proliferation. Taken together, these results suggest that MaR1 alleviated IR liver injury, facilitated by the activation of hepatocyte cell division, increased IL-6 cytokine levels, and the nuclear localization of Nrf-2, with a decrease of NF-κB activity. All of them were related to an improvement of liver injury parameters. These results open the possibility of MaR1 as a potential therapeutic tool in IR and other hepatic pathologies.

Comparison of diagnostic validity between mitotic activity index and Ki-67 expression as predictor for breast cancer in distant metastasis

Background: One particular cause of death from breast cancer is distant metastasis. In this study, we calculate and compare diagnostic value of Mitotic Activity Index (MAI) and Ki-67 expression in predicting distant metastasis.Methods: Study was conducted in Sanglah Hospital from January 2017 to February 2019. All histopathology results from open biopsy are examined, thus MAI and Ki-67 values were obtained. We divided this into 2 groups: MAI high (≥20/HPF), low (<20/HPF) and Ki-67 high (≥20%) and low (<20%). We compared with distant metastasis event as gold standard, obtained from radiology examination. We count all diagnostic characteristics (sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, accuracy, and likelihood ratio). We compared these diagnostic validities from data area under curve (AUC) with p value <0.005 considered to be statistically significant.Results: A total of 173 breast cancer patients were participated in this study, 92 of them had distant metastasis (53.2%) and 81 patients didn’t have any distant metastasis (46.8%). MAI had relative high specificity (82.7%) and Ki-67 had fair sensitivity values (69.6%). There are 0.08 point AUC differences between these two variables. With p value higher than 0.05 (0.06), it can be summarized that these two variables are not different significantly and statistically.Conclusions: There is not any statistically significant difference between these two markers in predicting distant metastasis in breast cancer. We hope other researcher interest into exploring more about these markers and their function.